{"id":896978,"date":"2020-01-22T11:07:34","date_gmt":"2020-01-22T18:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=896978"},"modified":"2020-01-22T11:07:44","modified_gmt":"2020-01-22T18:07:44","slug":"update-lawyers-can-be-bound-to-confidentiality-provision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/update-lawyers-can-be-bound-to-confidentiality-provision\/","title":{"rendered":"Update: Lawyers Can Be Bound to Confidentiality Provision in Settlement Agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Danielle Ward | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bph-law.com\/attorneys\/danielle-s.-ward\">Balestreri Potocki &amp; Holmes<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In July 2019, the California Supreme Court ruled that an attorney\u2019s\nsignature under the often-used phrase \u201capproved as to form and content\u201d does\nnot preclude a finding that the attorney could be bound to the terms of a\nsettlement agreement. (Monster Energy Co. v. Schechter (2019) 7 Cal.5th 781.)\nThis decision marks a reversal of the Fourth District Court of Appeal\u2019s 2018\nruling that approval of a contract is not tantamount to an agreement to be\nbound by that contract. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The underlying action stemmed out of a wrongful death suit by Wendy\nCrossland and Richard Fournier, parents of the decedent, against Monster Energy\nCompany. The parties negotiated a settlement, a critical of element of which\nwas a confidentiality provision aimed at keeping the the settlement secret. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The confidentiality provision prohibited plaintiffs and their counsel of\nrecord from disclosing both the existence of the settlement, or the terms\nthereof, to any person, entity, or publication, including the legal website\nLawyers &amp; Settlements. The attorneys signed the agreement under the phrase\n\u201capproved as to form and content.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shortly after the settlement agreement was executed, the Plaintiffs\u2019\nattorney Bruce Schechter disclosed his clients\u2019 settlement with Monster in an\ninterview with Lawyers &amp; Settlements. Monster filed suit against Mr.\nSchechter for breach of contract, among other causes of action. Mr. Schechter\nchallenged the lawsuit with a SLAPP motion, essentially arguing that the\nlawsuit was meritless and merely an attempt to thwart freedom of speech. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The trial court denied Mr. Schechter\u2019s motion as to the breach of contract\ncause of action finding that the settlement clearly contemplated that the\nattorneys were subjected to the terms of the agreement, and Schechter\u2019s claim\nthat he was not a party because he merely approved as to form and content was\n\u201cbeyond reason.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed, concluding that Mr. Schechter\nwas not a party to the agreement by virtue of his signature approving the form\nand content, and the Plaintiffs had no authority to bind their attorney to the\nterms of the agreement. The Court of Appeal found that by affixing his\nsignature to the agreement Mr. Schechter was merely manifesting his\n\u201cprofessional thumbs up\u201d in line with legal industry\u2019s customary understanding.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In its reversal, the California Supreme Court did not disturb the legal\ncommunity\u2019s understanding of the phrase \u201capproved as to form and content.\u201d\nRather, the Court concluded that an attorney\u2019s signature under that often-used\nphrase does not preclude as a matter of law that the attorney intended to be\nbound by the agreement. The entire agreement, including the substantive\nprovisions, need to be examined to determine the attorney\u2019s intent in affixing\nhis\/her signature to the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Turning to the Crossland\/Fournier Monster settlement agreement, the Court\nwas unpersuaded by Mr. Schechter\u2019s argument that he was not bound to the\nagreement because counsel was not included in the definition of \u201cparty\u201d. The\nCourt stated that it\u2019s the substance of the agreement that determines whether\ncounsel is a party to the contract, as opposed to a party to the lawsuit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Court was persuaded, in part, by the important role that confidentiality\nplays in brokering settlements. It noted that public disclosure of private\nsettlements would serve to \u201cchill\u201d parties\u2019 ability to resolve matters short of\ntrial, and there was little doubt that confidentiality was an important term of\nthe Crossland\/Fournier Monster settlement. In concluding that Monster had met its\nburden to defeat an anti-SLAPP motion, the Court pointed to the numerous\nreferences to counsel in the substantive provisions of the agreement which a\ntrier of fact could conclude bound Mr. Schechter to the confidentiality terms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Danielle Ward | Balestreri Potocki &amp; Holmes In July 2019, the California Supreme Court ruled that an attorney\u2019s signature under the often-used phrase \u201capproved as to form and content\u201d does not preclude a finding that the attorney could be bound to the terms of a settlement agreement. (Monster Energy Co. v. Schechter (2019) 7 Cal.5th&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/update-lawyers-can-be-bound-to-confidentiality-provision\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Update: Lawyers Can Be Bound to Confidentiality Provision in Settlement Agreement<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[9895,11058,224],"class_list":["post-896978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-contracts","tag-advise-consult","tag-confidentiality-provision","tag-construction-contract","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Update: Lawyers Can Be Bound to Confidentiality Provision in Settlement Agreement - Advise &amp; 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